Baller



June 10, 1952 WEST 2,600,037

' BALLER Filed July 29, 1949 '7' 2 SHEETS--SHEET l June 10, 1952 P. B.WEST 2,600,037

* BALLER Filed July 29, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented June 10, 1952BALLER Paul B. West, Saco, Maine, assignor to Sam- Lowell Shops, Boston,Mass, a corporation of Maine Application July 29, 1949, Serial No.107,451

9 Claims.

This invention relates to those machines used in the textile industry towind textile sliver or roving into a compact package, ordinarily referred to as a ball. Such a package is not a sphere but is fundamentallyan approximately cylindrical body built up by winding the sliver orroving in courses superposed, one on the other, with the strands of onecourse crossed over those in the preceding course.

While ballers have been used to a substantial extent in connection withthe preparation of wool fibers for spinning, the use of ballers inconnection with the preparation of cotton for spinning has never beenpracticed commercially, so far as I have been able to learn, at least upto the development in connection with which the present invention wasmade. An important reason for this situation is the fact that the cottonsliver, or other strand of which the ball is composed, usually consistsof substantially parallel fibers assembled side by side but not twistedtogether. While such a strand can be handled satisfactorily if composedof wool, or other long rough fibers, a similar strand composed of smoothfibers, such as cotton, and particularly fibers as short as cotton, isextremely weak in tensile strength. Naturally such a strand must besubjected to some degree of tensile strain in connection with Winding itinto a ball, and the danger of breakdowns due to rupture of a cottonstrand of this nature is so great that it has not been consideredfeasible to ball this material. Instead of using it in the form of aball between successive preparatory operations in connection with theprocess of working cotton into a suitable form for spinning, it has beencustomary to feed it into cans, or some equivalent type of container,capable of holding a suitable quantity while it is transferred from oneoperation to another.

The present invention is especially concerned with the conditions aboveset forth, and it aims to improve the fiber-handling and feedingapparatus of a baller with a view to enabling such a machine to operateon cotton sliver with entire satisfaction. It is also an object of theinvention to improve apparatus of the character just mentioned with aview to increasing the efiiciency of ballers, regardless of theparticular 'fiber to be handled, whether wool, cotton, synthetics, ormixtures of such fibers.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection, illustrating those parts of a baller with which this inventionis most closely related;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the outer end portion of the presser foot;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the supporting bracket for the presserfoot and parts adjacent to the bracket;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified presser foot construction; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the presser foot shown in Fig. 4.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the baller mechanism there showncomprises a driven friction roll 2 against which the ball B is heldwhile it is being wound, the ball being supported on a fiber-board orsimilar core 3 releasably mounted on a sleeve 4, as is known inmechanisms of this type. The sleeve is supported on ball bearings (notshown) which, in turn, are mounted on a shaft 5, and the latter issecured on the end of an arm 6 pivoted at I, Fig. 1. Associated withthis pivotal support for the arm is a brake mechanism which frictionallyresists the upward movement of the arm as the diameter of the ball Bincreases, thus holding this ball firmly, but yieldingly, against itsdriving roll 2 and producing a firm ball.

As the winding operation progresses, the sliver S is led to the ballthrough a guiding mechanism supported on a bracket 8 which is clamped ona tube [0 that is loosely telescoped on a stationary guide roll II. Thetube is reciprocated in a direction parallel to the shaft 5 by amechanism of any common or suitable type serving to traverse thesliver-guiding mechanism forward and backward in properly timedrelationship to the speed of rotation of the ball so as to build up theball in the desired manner.

So far as the construction just described is concerned, it forms no partof the present invention, and it may be replaced by any other suitablemechanism.

As above indicated, a very troublesome problem in producing balls ofcotton sliver is to handle the sliver in such a manner that it will .notbe broken. Usually the sliver is produced by a card or draw frame,preferably without going through a coiler or having any material degreeof twist put into it. Consequently, the tensile strength of the sliveris very low. In the prior art ballers it is customary to use a presserfoot consisting of a plate-like member under which the sliver is guidedinto contact with the ball, and the sliver is fed to the ball simply bythe pull exerted on it by the ball itself. ISO long as the ball is ofsmall diameter, such an arrangement works well because the wrap of thesliver around a substantial part of the circumference of the ball givesthe latter ample grip on the strand, and the length of the sliver inwhich the tensile strain is greatest is relatively short. However, asthe ball builds up this length of sliver subjected to sufficient tensilestrain to pull it through under the presser foot increases with aresultant liability of breaking the sliver. The present invention dealsparticularly with this problem and provides a thoroughly satisfactorysolution for that problem.

As indicated in Fig. l, the sliver S is led from overhead through aguiding horn I? which forms the supporting element of a presser footmechanism embodying this invention. It comprises an arm 13, rigidlysupported in the horn, and a roll l4 mounted for free rotation at theouter end of the arm.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the horn is provided with a deep groove,the surfaces of which are smooth and highly polished. This groove guidesthe sliver around a part of the horn and on to the adjacent outerpolished surface of the arm 13 which also serves to guide the sliver.After leaving the horn the sliver makes a few wraps or turns around thearm, and then is led through a guide eye mounted on the end of the armand directly into the bite of the roll M with the ball B. The roll M isrevolved by its contact with the ball and, consequently, these twoelements provide a firm bite which feeds the sliver on to the ball inmuch the same way that a sliver is fed between the top and bottom rollsof a drawing mechanism. Thus the tension to which the sliver issubjected is confined to only the very short section immediately behindthe bite of the presser foot roll with the ball, that is, between thebite of the presser foot roll with the ball B and the guide eye l5. Thisdistance is not only very short but it is constant regardless ofvariations in the diameter of the ball. 50 long as the length of thistensioned section of the sliver is less than the average fiber length,there is no danger of breaking the sliver, even though it is entirelydevoid of twist. The wraps around the arm l3 are to impart a tension toand guide the sliver previous to being placed on the ball. This tensionis obtained by the snubbing action and is regulated by the number ofwraps employed on the arm.

Thus the invention completely avoids the dimculties heretoforeexperienced with the use of a presser foot construction of a plate orpaddle type, and the danger of interrupting the operation of the machineby rupture of the sliver is practically eliminated.

A further advantage of this arrangement is that it facilitates threadingup or piecing up. If the sliver end is led down into the bite in frontof the eye IS, the rotation of the ball in cooperation with the pressureof the roll 14 will feed the sliver without any further aid. This is nottrue with a presser foot of the paddle type where, if a rupture in thesliver occurs in front of the paddle, all feeding movement of the sliverstops and it is necessary to re-thread it under the presser foot andgive it a partial wrap around the ball in order to re-establish thefeeding action.

In order to hold the roll firmly in contact with 4 the ball, the horn I2is pivoted on the bracket 8 at I6, Fig. 1, and a coiled spring I!connects the horn with an extension 8 of the bracket and serves to pressthe roll l4 firmly against the ball.

Preferably the roll [4 is mounted on the end of the arm l3 in an oifsetrelationship thereto. In the arrangement shown this is done by providinga reversely curved or U-shaped roll holder either made integral with thearm or secured rigidly thereto, the holder having a U-shape with one armforming a shaft 2| on which the roll is supported and the other arm 25being secured to the part 13.

A slightly difierent arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 inwhich parts like those shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are designated by thesame numerals. Here, however, the arm (3' is provided with a forked headincluding two side plates 58-48 between which the roll I4 is mounted,the roll having a shaft which is supported in these two side members.Also, the guide eye I5 is formed in the bridge piece which connects theparts I8l8. The operation, however, is the same as that disclosed in theconstruction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be evident that the invention is susceptible ofembodiment in other forms without departing from the spirit or scopethereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a presser foot roll mounted forfree rotation and adapted to be rotated by running in contact with saidball, means for pressing the presser foot roll against the ball, and adevice for guiding a sliver into contact with said hall where it will bepressed against the ball by said presser foot roll at a point closelyadjacent to the initial point of contact of the sliver with the ball.

2. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a presser foot roll mounted forfree rotation and adapted to be rotated by running in contact with saidball, means for pressing the presser foot roll against the ball, and adevice for guiding a sliver into substantially the bite of said presserfoot roll with said ball.

3. In a baller according to preceding claim 1. a construction in whichsaid device includes a guiding eye for th silver positioned directly infront of and close to the bite of said roll with the ball.

4. In a baller according to preceding claim 2, a construction includinga guiding eye for said sliver spaced from said bite by a distance lessthan the average fiber length of the sliver.

5. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a presser foot roll mounted for therotation and adapted to be rotated by running in contact with said ball,means supporting said roll for swinging movement toward and from saidball, a device for guiding a sliver into contact with said roll at apoint where it will be pressed against the ball by said roll, and meanscooperating with said supporting means for pressing said roll yieldinglyagainst said ball as the latter revolves and its diameter is increased.

6. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a presser foot roll running incontact with said ball, an arm on which saidroll is mounted for freerotation, means supporting said arm for pivotal movement about an axisparallel with the axis of said ball but remote from the ball, wherebythe roll can adjust itself to variations in the diameter of said ball,devices for guiding a sliver into contact with said roll at a pointwhere it will be pressed against the ball by said roll, and spring meansacting on said arm to hold said roll pressed against said ball.

7. In a baller according to preceding claim 6, a construction in whichsaid arm has a sliver guid on its end adjacent to its pivotal supportfor leading the sliver on to a guiding surface of said arm.

8. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a freely-rotatable presser footroll running in contact with said ball, a pivoted arm on which said rollis supported for swinging movement toward and from said ball, devicescooperating with said arm to guide a sliver into contact with said rollat a point such that it will be pressed against the ball by said roll,means cooperating with said arm for pressing said roll yieldinglyagainst said ball, said arm being provided at its outer end with asupport, and a shaft mounted in said support and supporting said roll.

9. In a baller, the combination of means for revolving a ball while itis built up by winding sliver on it, a presser foot roll running incontact with said ball, a pivoted arm on which said roll is supportedfor swinging movement toward and from said ball, devices cooperatingwith said arm to guide a sliver into contact with said roll at a pointsuch that it will be pressed against the ball by said roll, and meanscooperating with said arm for pressing said roll yieldingly against saidball, said arm having a U-shaped part at its end with one leg connectedwith said arm and the opposite leg free, said roll being mounted on saidfree leg.

PAUL B. WEST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,181,678 Macintyre May 2, 19161,797,393 Abbott Mar. 24, 1931 2,294,771 Campbell Sept. 1, 19422,359,257 Stalker Sept. 26, 1944 2,475,895 Hill July 12, 1949 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 4,478 Great Britain of 1-886

